Image: Photo Illustration of the Future Building. Courtesy of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Story by Giovanna Triguis | Translation by Isabella Betancur
After years in the making, TAMU-CC prepares to schedule the groundbreaking for the new state-of-the-art Arts and Media building. During a meeting on February 8, the Texas A&M Board of Regents gave their stamp of approval to the building plans. The building is planned to be completed in Spring 2026, with the hopes of hosting classes by Fall 2026. The new facility will be a much needed improvement to the current Center for the Arts. “It’s really a win-win, because the current Center for the Arts has some real challenges for programs like Theatre and Music. It was not designed very well for sound proofing,” University President and CEO, Dr. Kelly M. Miller said. “The good thing is when the new facility is built, not only will they move into the new space, but then we can make some renovations at the Center for the Arts and use that for other campus purposes as well.” The new facility will be constructed where the former Classroom East was. Offering 85,000 square feet for not just classrooms, but also for a recital hall, a 166-seat black box theater, plenty of rehearsal space, and a state-of-the-art proscenium theatre.
“I think with this building what’s really exciting to me is that you’re gaining space, multiple types of spaces, in a way that you don’t typically see with a new facility, and so I think that’s really exciting because of course space is always an issue so that’s very very exciting,” Dr. Miller said. “The other thing is I think the arts have the ability to just raise the profile of the campus, right they have that capacity, and that is something we want to see happen.”
As the university plans to break ground for the new building in May of this year, excitement begins to increase campus-wide, especially considering the educational advancements it brings for students and because the new facility has been anticipated for a long time.
“I think anytime that we’re able to bring a new facility onto our campus it creates excitement, and even if it’s not in your division or it is not in your area,” Dr. Miller shared, “it makes our campus a place that’s really excelling in very academic areas and provides great experience for our students, which is our number one priority.”
The new facility will offer a range of benefits to not just those who may be art majors, but also the coastal bend community, with new opportunities to expand the student body and expand community involvement.
“We’ll have opportunities to use the facility, the new building, just for lots of things that would be exciting for folks on campus, but also to engage the coastal bend community, that’s looking for a more cultural vibrancy from our community,” Dr. Miller said. “Any time you can engage the community on campus it creates opportunities for people to fall in love with our university, and then you have those folks that get to meet our students and want to become donors and want to help support the university.”
Along with the new advancements to benefit the Music and Theatre programs, the new facility will also showcase a display to honor the life of Dr. P. Garcia and will exhibit his collection of archives.
“We are going to have a display that will highlight the life of Dr. P. Garcia, and we are privileged to have his collection, all his archives here on our campus, and of course his statue is in the Garcia center, but this is a space that will be very visited by the public,” Dr. Miller said. “So we’ll be able to tell more to our campus community and our outside visitors about his life, point them to the archives that we have and we think that’s another great thing about this facility.”